SANTA CLARA — Frank Gore someday might get a chance to return to the 49ers and add to his franchise-leading rushing total.
It’s not happening yet, however, even after a barrage of injuries forced the 49ers to sign other running backs ahead of Sunday night’s home opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Asked Wednesday if the 49ers considered adding Gore, coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t exactly confirm that.
“I would never put anything past Frank,” Shanahan said. “If we probably give him a little heads up and some notice, he’d always be ready to help the team. Thought it was a little early for that.”
With Raheem Mostert lost to season-ending knee surgery, the 49ers likely won’t have his immediate replacement, rookie Elijah Mitchell, available this week. On Sunday in Philadelphia, Mitchell sustained a shoulder injury that Shanahan acknowledged is worse than a nerve stinger.
JaMycal Hasty (high ankle sprain) is out, but Trey Sermon is progressing through the NFL’s concussion protocol and was to be limited in Wednesday practice.
Chris Thompson, formerly of Washington and Jacksonville, was added to the practice squad, where the 49ers already have former Lions rusher Kerryon Johnson as an option to promote. Also on the 53-man roster are Trenton Cannon and Jacques Patrick, the latter of whom they poached Tuesday off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad.
“Our guys still have a chance to play this week,” Shanahan added. “So we looked at that with an opportunity to not having 53 (players) on our roster, to try stealing someone off a practice squad, which we did (Patrick), and try to add a practice squad guy, which we did (Thompson).”
Patrick, 24, is bigger than most 49ers backs, but Shanahan believes he can execute as well as have enough speed to execute the outside zone runs that are a big part of the offense. Mostert, in particular, allowed for creative wrinkles because he was one of the fastest backs in the NFL.
“We never said we have to have guys that run 4.3s,” Shanahan said. “It’s never really been like that if you look at the history of some of our runners. It just kind of morphed into that. We just looked for who we thought the best runners would be and they come in all different shapes and sizes.”
Gore, 38, is unemployed after two games for the first time in a storied career that began with the 49ers from 2005-14. He played last season with the New York Jets after stops with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts.
While Gore has never played for Shanahan or running backs coach Bobby Turner, who has a big role in determining which backs are on the roster, he does have a close relationship with 49ers CEO Jed York. York considers Gore a confidant and vowed that someday he would return to at least sign a ceremonial contract upon retiring.
Is there a reunion possible to keep Gore’s career alive?
“We never fully ruled that out,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know exactly where he’s at right now. We have a number of people here that have a relationship with him . . .If that time ever comes and we need to do that and he wants to do it, we’d never rule that out.”
Gore’s name surfaced in an NFL.com report last week in which he said he was training to be a boxer as well as for football.
“I’ve been training for both — football and boxing. I’ve always loved boxing, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” Gore told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. “And we’re trying to make a fight happen. If we do that, you’ll see me in the ring. … I just fell in love with how hard it is. I felt like, ‘Man, I couldn’t fight.’ And I always like a challenge. So I kept doing it and doing it and I saw myself getting better and better.”
In an interview with KNBR in early June, Gore said teams had contacted him but declined to specify which ones. The Jets, for whom Gore played in 2020, were 2-14.
“I know that I can still play the game, I know I can help a team,” Gore said. “But it’s also got to be the right situation that I feel that I can be on a team that could go to the playoffs and get a chance to probably go to the Super Bowl. I know that I can still play the game of football, but I also want to be in the right situation on the right team.”
Staff writer Jerry McDonald contributed to this report
